"(UPI) -- A 69-year-old man attempted to help a woman who was being attacked by a polar bear near his home Thursday, and suffered serious lacerations when the bear turned on him.But it would have been worse if neighbors hadn't rushed to his aid -- so quickly that one of them didn't have time to get dressed.

Bill Ayotte used a shovel fend off the bear long enough for the woman to escape. When the bear turned on him, his nude neighbor came to his defense."